Customer Based Business Development : Strategic Challenges for a Small Research-Based Spin-Off Enterprise

The biotechnology industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the western economy. The biotech industry is helping the world by creating significant societal and economic value in various sectors. However, as a result of the fast development of the biotech industry, the environment is constantly changing and doing so at a high pace. Hence, biotech companies are forced to always stay competitive and improve their business in order not to be outrivaled. XYZ is a family-owned chemical company based in Europe. The company’s main business is polysaccharide chemistry but specializes in fluorescent dextran derivatives for which XYZ offer different goods and services. Dextran is a polysaccharide that has been widely used as a research tool in various scientific fields. XYZ has been struggling with stagnating sales and wants to grow their business and find new customers. The purpose of this master thesis is to suggest ways of business development for XYZ through customer and market understanding. Assessment of the company’s current strategy, market and customers will aid in understanding the company’s value proposition and identify opportunities for business development. Data were collected mainly through qualitative unstructured interviews. In conclusion, based on the empirical results we recommend to assess the value propositions that the company is currently offering to customers. This should be done before reaching out to new customers. Further, this project aims to describe the factors a small research-based enterprise should consider when designing a business strategy.In this paper, a synthetic method for fixable FITC-alpha-Lys-dextran is examined and evaluated. Starting dextran molecular weight average was 70 kDa. One application of dextran is to attach some fluorescent group in order to visualize biological systems. Fluorescent dextrans have been proven useful as a macromolecular tracer when studying for example permeability of blood vessels and the lymphatic system. In some biological applications, fluorescent dextrans need to be fixed. This means that you can follow parts of the cell more easily as they move around. These so- called 'fixable dextrans' are susceptible to cross-linking by aldehyde-treatment. It can then bind covalently to biomolecules. These fixed fluorescent dextrans can then be detected by ultrastructural and immunohistochemical techniques. This four step synthesis resulted in 59 % yield of FITC-alpha-Lys-dextran with a degree of substitution at 0.12 % Molecular weight average of the final product was approximately 72 kDa with a polydispersity of approximately 1.45. Emission maxima occurred at 519 nm